Combined photon–neutron radiography for nondestructive analysis of materials

Abstract

Combined photon–neutron radiography was investigated as a nondestructive method to determine the shape and material composition of complex objects. A system consisting of photon and neutron sources in a cone-beam configuration and a 2D detector array was modeled using the MCNP5 code. Photon-to-neutron transmission ratios were determined for a car engine using 0.1, 0.5, 2.5 MeV neutrons and 0.2, 0.5, 1 MeV photons. Focusing on inherent difference between neutron and photon interactions with matter, it was possible to classify materials within the scanned object.